Weekend of fun

A few weekends ago Kevin was out of town and my mom came in to visit. We managed to pack a lot into those 3 days she was here.

That Friday evening we took the kids to Klyde Warren Park, one of the best new things in Dallas in the last few years. We bought dinner from one of the food trucks and had a picnic on the lawn. Then, after dinner, the kids had a great time running and playing in the playground. We topped off a fun evening with custom-made ice cream sandwiches from the food trucks. As the weather turns cooler and more pleasant I foresee a lot more Klyde Warren evenings in our future this fall.

The next day was the day Daniel and I had looked forward to for weeks, the A&M-SMU game. I got up to run and came home to a find the kids enjoyed a delicious breakfast. They always eat well when Mimi visits! Then Daniel and I donned our Aggie gear and headed for SMU. We arrived in time to hit the Dallas A&M Club and SMU Law School tailgate parties and it was fun to catch up with some friends out there. It was interesting being back on the SMU campus; even as a student there I barely ever ventured beyond the law quad into main campus. It felt vaguely familiar but I mainly just trusted the crowd to lead us to the stadium ;)

Our tickets (bought aftermarket on Stubhub) were in the SMU student section though you'd never know it from all the maroon around us. In fact, it was a sea of maroon all over campus that day. It made me both proud of the Aggie turnout and sad for SMU.

The game was about as competitive as you'd expect a matchup between the #6 team in the country and a team you could legitimately argue might be the worst Division I team and whose coach had just resigned. That was great for Daniel because our seats in the end zone proved to be a great spot to watch touchdowns get scored and extra points landed in the section right next to us. As excited as Daniel had been about the idea of "the Johnny football players" he was bored once we were there and soon asking to go home. (In fairness, it was a very hot afternoon.) I told him we had to stay to watch the Aggie band and then we could go. It was fun to watch his eyes light up as the band marched out and began the opening notes of the War Hymn.

As we were walking to our car he said he had a great time and wanted to go again tomorrow. He was probably a little young for this game but it'll be fun to take him and Rebecca in coming years, and someday show them around Aggieland.

The next day we crossed another item off my mom's Dallas bucket list. She had never been to the Dallas Zoo before, despite spending part of her childhood in Dallas, and the 3 of us had only been once last summer, so that was on the agenda Sunday. Last time we went Rebecca was a newborn who slept happily in my Beco carrier the whole time. This time she eagerly pointed out the "nimals" and wanted to be lifted up for a closer view. She and Daniel both were especially interested in the elephants, giraffes, and koalas. It'll be fun to go back as they get older and have longer attention spans; by the end of the outing we were all DONE.

It was a busy weekend and I was ready for a recovery day after all that walking around and time in the sun but we had a great time! Thanks Mom!